Eyes on the Street: Parking Placard Abuse in Prospect Lefferts Gardens

3:30 PM EDT on May 23, 2014

Placard abuse in action. Photo: Eli Forsythe — This placard holder was on "official business" in front of a fire hydrant for at least 24 hours straight. Photo: Eli Forsythe

Parking placard abuse might be most noticeable in hotspots like Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn, but it's an epidemic in neighborhoods across the city. Reader Eli Forsythe sent in photos of an illegally-parked car with a placard on the dash in Prospect Lefferts Gardens last weekend.

"Cars are constantly parking in front of my building," he writes. "Many of the placards used clearly seem to be placard abuse."

The car was parked in a no-parking zone in front of a fire hydrant on the north side of Captain Oakley Jr. Square, where Caton and Bedford Avenues meet. The driver was parked using a parole officer placard on "official business" for at least 24 hours on Sunday and Monday.

Even real placards (as opposed to the bogus variety) don't give drivers carte blanche to park in bus stops, on sidewalks, in front of hydrants, or in no-parking zones. Spot placard abuse in your neighborhood? Snap a photo, including the curb and the nearest parking regulation sign if possible, and send it to tips@streetsblog.org.

Streetsblog will not publish on Monday in observance of Memorial Day. We'll be back on our regular schedule Tuesday.

Stephen Miller

In spring 2017, Stephen wrote for Streetsblog USA, covering the livable streets movement and transportation policy developments around the nation. From August 2012 to October 2015, he was a reporter for Streetsblog NYC, covering livable streets and transportation issues in the city and the region. After joining Streetsblog, he covered the tail end of the Bloomberg administration and the launch of Citi Bike. Since then, he covered mayoral elections, the de Blasio administration's ongoing Vision Zero campaign, and New York City's ever-evolving street safety and livable streets movements.

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